"After how long this game has been delayed, it's good to see it's pretty good."

One day I woke up from my slumber, and I was feeling very groggy. I had no idea what I was going to do that day. It was almost as if I was just going to lie on the couch again and watch reruns of Seinfeld. But then, as I passed my computer, I remembered something. I hadn’t written a review for a game in 3 months! So, I sat my ass down, and I figured “What better game to do to get back into my reviewing than BLACK AND WHITE!” I figured it would be a monumental task to be able to write a review of such an enormous game. But, after hard work and dedication, here it is. Enjoy!

Story: 10/10
Here’s the main just of the story. You’re a newbie god, trying to do all that you can to impress your people. That is pretty much it. What is so special is, like an RPG, you don’t really have to keep on going in the story if you don’t want to. Why? The story is woven through many different islands, each little bit told through golden scrolls. If you don’t want to click on the next one, then don’t. Still want to gather more food for your people so as they will be more satisfied with you during the next chapter? Then by all means, DO IT! There are limitless possibilities to what you can and can’t do. But, one thing that I could’ve changed was the fact that it’s the same storyline no matter what alignment you are; Good or Evil. But, with how the story is woven throughout the game, you won’t really care.

Graphics: 10/10
At first when I bought this game, I knew I was going to be in for a treat. After all, this game was already announced back in November of 19 freaking 97! If it took that long to get the game good and running, it must either be pretty good, or else, it’s a problem game. Fear not, for all of Lionhead’s hard work has paid off with one of the most graphically impressive games EVER. Let’s just start out with the land around you. From the first time you’re able to raise your camera, you will be wowed in amazement. The textures are greatly detailed, even sometimes down to the tiniest blade of grass. You can denote what is a person or not from way up in the sky, which is where you’ll usually be. Frame-Rate is very smooth as well, making it even more of an accomplishment. Also, Black And White uses a new engine that was made for this game, and I can guarantee that it will be used again. There are no problems with slowdown, except in some areas that take the most power to run, such as the 3rd island. I ran into a lot of problems with it there. No pop-up is seen in the entire game as well. The lighting effects are just gorgeous, with you being able to even see each little being’s shadow. The 2 best words to describe these graphics are what I said when I first looked around. I said: “Holy ****, this is awesome!”

Control: 9/10
The control in this game is very good, at the least. But, there are just some moments that will get you frustrated as hell. Basically all you really need is the mouse. That’s right. You’d think a game of this caliber would have a more complicated control scheme. But, nope. With the mouse, you are able to move around, cast spells, change the camera, etc. Basically, you almost don’t need a keyboard. But, there are problems that flare up with this. While you can just do everything with the mouse, it’ll take longer. The camera in this game is usually good, but sometimes, I’d run into not being able to move after changing the camera, and a few times, I was whisked out to the outskirts of the land. Not good if you’re in battle with a rival god. Also, sometimes the hand that you use to grab the land doesn’t always move when you want it to. But, luckily, these problems do not happen all that often, and do not really detract from the game.

Music: 3/10
You know that everything has a blemish in it. Every game, every movie, every person, every chunk of puke, has to have a blemish in it somewhere. Though, with the puke, it’s pretty hard to tell where it is. The music in this game is just this one tune that sounds like it came out of Scottish folklore. So, for all ye laddies out there, add on 4 points to the rating. Pretty much the only time in the game when the music changes is when something bad is going on, or in this one particularly annoying side task in which you need to give these boaters some stuff to leave on a voyage. They do this little polka romp, and it’s annoying as hell. That’s why I killed all of them. :D

Gameplay: 10/10
Where games matter the most, this one comes in with flying colors. Mainly for a reason I said above. There is so little to it, yet so much possibility. You go through the game activating golden scrolls, which will move the story along. There are also Silver Scrolls, which will activate special reward challenges that you can do to give you new miracle power ups, or many other good things. The thing about it is that with these challenges, you can choose to do them good or bad. Let’s take in a little challenge near the beginning where you need to get 3 singing stones to open up a gate. A woman in town has one, but to do it, you must find her sick brother, which has decided to be an idiot and run away. Dumbcrap. Anywho, you can choose to be a good little god and pick him up and rescue him. Or, you can break open the house, take the rock, and then kill the brother and drop it down in front of her, to be a bad little god. With all the different challenges in this game, this opens so much possibility. Now, these miracles you gain will help you take care of your town. The entire object of the game is to keep your towns happy, by stocking them with wood, food, heal them, etc. And, in order to take over other towns, you must win them over with belief. What that means is that you need to make them believe in you by casting helpful miracles, or launching rocks and fireballs their way. The only blemish in this is that once you get about 3 towns, it gets hard trying to satisfy every town, because no matter what, once you keep one town satisfied, another town will want more. Now, to help you along a bit, you can make townspeople do different jobs, such as a woodsman to get more wood from woods, and a farmer to harvest crops. It does get a bit complicated, but luckily your conscience is there to help you with what everyone wants. Also there to help you is an avatar, a huge creature that can learn how to harvest crops, cast miracles, basically anything you do. This avatar is also the only thing that can go outside of your realm, so he can help towns believe in you as well. You can check up on him back in your huge citadel, or if you want another way to look at him and his health, build a wonder, which will also expand your realm. PHEW! This game is so tiring, I’ll sleep now.

Fun Factor: 7/10
Let me just say that by the time you hit the 4th island, this game just plain turns into a tedious mess. You’ll have to do more to impress other towns, while at the same time you must do more to impress your town…it’ll make your head spin. But, through all the islands, this game is pretty fun, mainly because, as I said before, you can do whatever the hell you want. There is no right or wrong.

Difficulty: 5/10
For even a seasoned gamer, this game is hella hard. All I can say is, if your 9-year old thinks he’s big and cool, and can go onto bigger, harder games, tell little Johnny to sit his ass down and play populous. That is what this game is based on, and in my opinion, Populous is easier than this.

Replay Value: 10/10
Only one thing I can guarantee. You will play this game again at least TWICE. Because there is so much possibility of how the game will end up, whether you’re good, evil, or a mix of both. And remember, there is no right or wrong in this game, so you can’t fail.

Recap? To a review? I thought I stopped doing reviews! Oh well, here it goes…

Story-10/10
Graphics-10/10
Control-9/10
Music-3/10
Gameplay-10/10
Fun Factor-7/10
Difficulty-5/10
Replay Value-10/10

Which means, I give this game a…8.

On a final note..Should I buy this?

Well, I say yes. Basically, this game took a long time, and with how good it is even after all of those delays, you owe it to yourself to get this game. It can be pretty fun, and it provides a lot of challenge to even the seasoned gamer. I put my seal of a good game on it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/11/01, Updated 05/11/01